President John Dramani Mahama yesterday renewed government’s commitment towards promoting the digital technology economy to support the nation’s development agenda.
Describing the advancement of digital technology as a key pillar in the government’s transformational agenda, he said the digital industry had a huge potential that needed to be nurtured to support the rapid growth of the national economy.
According to him, the adoption of digital technology had helped in transforming various sectors, particularly the telecommunications industry, which had witnessed tremendous growth in the last decade.
President Mahama, who said this when he opened the second Africa Mobile and ICT Exhibition in Accra, said the government would continue to invest in the sector by providing the necessary infrastructure, resources and a congenial legal environment for the industry to strive.
The exhibition has the theme,” Digital economy- an untapped resource for accelerated economic development.”
The President cited the establishment of the national data centre, which is expected to be commissioned soon, as one of the many interventions by the government to respond to the needs of the growing digital economy in the country.
Although he expressed delight at how fast Ghana had grown in the digital economy, he admitted that there was more room to develop the sector to achieve maximum results.
President Mahama, for instance, noted that Ghana’s mobile phone subscription statistics, which stands at 33 million, was a key reason for the current development in the sector.
“Today, Ghana stands tall as one of the progressive ICT and telecom markets with six mobile operators and over 33 million subscriptions.
“We want to build our digital industry to match the developed countries, and even overtake them,” he said.
He lauded the high profile innovation and creativity by Ghanaian IT professionals, whose products have gained international recognition, adding that the high participation of the youth was impressive.
In that, regard, he gave the assurance that the government would continue to resource the technical institutions to focus more on ICT as a way of equipping the youth with advanced skills in IT.
The President lauded the objective of the exhibition, which had created a platform for operators in the ICT industry to showcase their products and inventions, saying there was a need to explore the sector for the benefit of the country.
More than 30 companies are showcasing their products at the exhibition, which has an objective of attracting investors, policy makers, ICT operators and mobile technology enthusiasts to discuss developments in the sector.
It is also aimed at empowering the youth by helping them to identify job creation and employment opportunities in the technology sector.
Source: The Ghanaian Times
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